Search Netflix on Xbox 360 in November

Microsoft announced a plethora of games, hardware and news tidbits at this year’s E3 press conference. One interesting piece of news, however, didn’t come from E3, but was communicated through a press release from Marc Whitten, general manager of Xbox Live.

In the press release, Whitten announced that the Xbox 360‘s Netflix client will be updated to include search – which will be public this November.

Here’s the official statement:

“Netflix Search. We’re proud of our continued innovation with Netflix. We were the first gaming console to bring instantly streaming movies from Netflix right to the living room. The first to let you update your Netflix instant Queue without a computer. And Xbox LIVE remains the only place you can share the fun with up to seven friends in a Movie Party. Starting this November, Xbox 360 will offer Netflix search. Just type what you’re looking for, immediately search from thousands of titles you can watch instantly, and update your Queue, all right over Xbox LIVE. We’re making your entertainment easier to discover.”

About time, right? This should have been a feature from the get-go but, for whatever reason, it was not included. Albeit, you may have discovered some movies or television shows through browsing that you might not have thought of – but search is just so much easier when something particular comes to mind. It’s a pain to jump on the computer or use a mobile app just to add something to the queue that you want to watch on your TV that moment.

This update is more than welcomed.

Unfortunately, we do have to wait until sometime in November, but it’s safe to assume that with the launch of Kinectthe same month means there will be some sort of dashboard update that will include the updates to Netflix. You can bet that, with Netflix paired with Kinect, you will be able to peruse your queue in Minority Report fashion – unleashing your Jedi powers.

Do you use Netflix on your Xbox 360? How would you change or update Netflix on the console?